Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the US imposed sanctions against 271 Syrian employees over the sarin attack https://t.co/fAq6IGcn8V
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 24, 2017
Earlier this month, Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad allegedly launched a chemical attack against his own people, killing dozens. Though it was seen as a conspiracy by some of his supporters, President Trump launched a retaliatory airstrike, even though it went against advice from his Past Self, which lost him some esteem with some of his other supporters. The saga continued today as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced a whopping 271 new sanctions against Syria in response to the initial attack.
The sanctions action, one of the largest the U.S. has ever issued, was made against employees of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, Syria’s chief agency “for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.” The sanctions were announced by Mnuchin during Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s daily briefing.
Reports of the sanctions first surfaced Monday morning, hours before the announcement. According to the Washington Post, “Three U.S. officials said that the sanctions are part of a broader effort to cut off funding and other support to Syria’s President Bashar Assad and his government amid the country’s escalating civil war.”
The U.S. has been issuing sanctions against Syria since 2004 for offenses such as pursuing weapons of mass destruction and being a state sponsor of terrorism.
(Via Washington Post & CNN)